One Little Change
by Drahylin
Summary: What if Hyuuga Hinata were a little more courageous? How would things be different? Eventual NarutoxHinata. Chapter Four has been revamped, please read and review it again.
1. If You Give a Hyuuga an Uzumaki

This fic is dedicated to…me I guess, as no one else seems to write about the most awesome of pairings that this world will ever see… Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata. There will a lemon or two and a whole bucket of limes later on...but that is later, no?

It also might get a little OOC at times, but that can't be helped. The setting is right after Naruto becomes a Genin, and the teams have not been announced yet... Everything's going to get a little OOC come to think of it.

There will also be other various pairings that I will include whenever I feel like it, but remember that this is NarutoxHinata, not any other pair, so that will be the only lemon…perverts.

All criticisms, flames, slaps on the back, free food, free money, and/or advice are welcome.

If you're still with me, then on with the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor would I want to…I just would like Hyuuga Hinata to be mine…as long as someone else didn't mind of course. coughs obviously at someone

" Spoken "

' _Thoughts_ '

( Random Thoughts )

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**_Chapter One: If you give a Hyuuga an Uzumaki…_**

"Congratulations all of you who have graduated to Genin rank!" pronounced Iruka, giving an extra quick nod towards one of the few people in the room not really paying attention; who, in truth, was wondering what kind of ramen he should have for lunch, while appearing to everybody else that he was sleeping.

'_I can have miso pork, or chicken, or beef, wait, I had that for breakfast…_'

"I will now be announcing the three-man teams that this class will be broken into. Please keep in mind that the names were not picked randomly, they were selected based on each of your individual talents, and well as your aptitude at being shinobi. Here we go."

Interested now, the spiky haired blond picked up his head from the desk, opened his blue, blue eyes, nonchalantly wiped the drool puddle that had appeared **somehow**, and listened attentively for his cell to be called out.

'_As long as I'm on the Team that has Sakura-Chan, pleeeease let me be with Sakura-Chan._' He silently prayed to the kami as, a few rows above him and a little to the right, a young girl with white eyes, a wallflower among wallflowers, was busy daydreaming about our little ramen loving Genin, and busily blushing a rather vivid crimson through her creamy skin.

'_And then, after Naruto-kun takes me out on a romantic date, we'll…_'

"Team Seven will consist of Uchicha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and…" Iruka paused for a moment, seeming rather confused.

'_I know that isn't the name I wrote there last night…it can't be…oh well, I have to stick by it in any case…_'

'_Crap! Why did I have to get stuck with that loser? All he ever does is pretend he's cooler than the rest of us. I guess it won't be as bad if Sakura-chan gets put in Team Seven as well._' thought Naruto before waiting, along with all of the girls in the class, including our daydreamer, for the next name to be called. Most of the boys at this point, including the normally lazy Nara Shikamaru, began actively moving away from the girls, just on the off chance that the girl in question didn't get put with Sasuke.

By this time, several minutes had passed, during which Iruka was busy trying to dispel the genjutsu, if any, on the paper, trying to find another copy of the paper, scowling at the list in hopes that it changed back to what he originally wrote, going back to the genjutsu dispelling, in hopes that it simply failed the first time, etc.

Eventually, Naruto got tired of waiting and took center stage as he stood up and slammed his hand down on the table to get Iruka's attention, and roared, "Who is it Iruka-sensei? Tell us the other name!" His exclamation even broke through the daydreamer's thoughts, and probably carried out through the halls as well.

"If you insist Naruto…the last member of Team Seven is Hyuuga Hinata."

At this the class got deathly silent, as every girl promptly turned toward Hinata, who no longer had her daydream to distract her, quickly quailed under the murderous gazes directed towards her. The guys were all rather glad that they had moved, as some of them even went so far as to draw kunai and shiruken and aim them at the blushing brunette.

Naruto was crestfallen at this statement of the third member, realizing that Hinata did not have the pink hair, nor the green eyes , nor the correct name to be who he really wanted on his team.

Hinata, on the other hand, wasn't at all surprised when she was announced as the third member of Team Seven. She had, of course, arranged for her name to be in Naruto's Team.

**FLASHBACK-early that morning**

Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak. The sound of zori in the asphalt was deafening to Hinata as she dashed down the silent streets of Konohagakure Village, silently arguing with herself.

'_Why am I doing this? I should be asleep and hoping that Naruto will finally notice me tomorrow._'

'_You're doing this so Naruto **will** notice you tomorrow; and the day after that, and after that as well._'

'_But this is wrong._'

'_Not if it's for him._'

'_It's like cheating though._'

'_So you wouldn't cheat for Naruto to be yours?_'

'_I'm not saying that!_'

'_But you just did…baka._'

'_I do want him though, and I'll do anything for him._' At this thought, Hinata blushed fiercely and almost tripped over a small rock in the ground.

'_What if he doesn't want you on his team? Then he'll be unhappy._'

'_Quit it! If I'm not on his team, then he'll end up falling for someone who doesn't like him like I do._'

'_Then move on Hyuuga-baka, and let him be and choose who he will._'

'_I can't do that, he might not choose me and then I don't know what I'd do. Now quiet, I'm almost there._'

'There' happened to be Iruka-sensei's house, to alter the team lists so that she could be with Naruto-kun. It all started with a thought, but now it was an impulse that needed to be fulfilled. It seemed like the sort of thing that Naruto would do for someone he truly loved, so Hinata didn't have that much of a problem in doing it herself. '_After all,_' she thought, '_I need Naruto about as much as Chouji wants food._'

When she neared Iruka-sensei's house, she stopped running, and began to act as she normally did; inconspicuous and non-threatening. Walking face down, and fingers playing the opposite fingers on her other hand, she seemed like someone simply walking down the road in deep thought, instead of a student looking to make a simple change to the Team dossier. With her eyes looking down, you couldn't even tell that her eyes were white, with a hint of pale lavender in them, automatically giving her away as a member of the prestigious Hyuuga clan. When she reached Iruka's walk, she activated her Byakuugan and looked around for any body that might be looking and, not seeing any one awake, deactivated it, and walked up the drive to Iruka's door and tried it. Naturally, the Jounin had locked it.

Thinking quickly, she figured that the entrance would have to be through a window, as it had been a rather hot and muggy evening, so Iruka would likely have opened a few windows, and simply made them appear to everybody else that they were closed. Emboldened by this figuring, she went around the small house checking every window, finally finding one in the kitchen. Placing some chakra on her hands and feet, she climbed up and through the window before lightly falling to her feet inside.

'_Thank Kami that Father trained me a little in how to use chakra before deciding that I was more or less worthless as the Clan's heir._' This line of thought continued for a while, causing a few tears to crawl down her face and drip onto her hitai-ate hanging around her neck. After a few minutes of silent crying, she remembered where she was, and what she was doing. She then proceeded to go through the kitchen, attempting to find the listings. Failing in the kitchen, she then proceeded onto the living room, the bathroom (Which needed a cleaning in her opinion), and finally locating it on the table in his room. Hinata noted that Iruka slept with a stuffed Gama Bunta, and then picked up the papers and went out to his dining room where, for the next 2 hours, she attempted to mimic his handwriting, occasionally activating her Byakuugan to check if Iruka was still asleep. Finally getting a result close enough to Iruka's actual handwriting, she rewrote the entire list, even down to the random ink smudges, changing only her name and that of Haruno Sakura, who was actually supposed to be with Naruto and Sasuke.

Quietly replacing everything to where it was, she slipped back out the kitchen window and hurried back to the Main House's manor, slipped back into her nightclothes, retrieved her Naruto doll from its hiding place, and slept until it was time to wake up, three hours later.

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

Naruto was busy pacing around in the empty classroom, grumbling loud enough for most people to hear, even in the Hidden Grass Village. Iruka had announced the rest of the Teams, and their teachers had already come and gone again. Except Team Seven's.

"Gaaaah! When is he going to get here! I'm tired of this waiting…hmm…" He eyed the other two in the room, that bastard Sasuke and the strange girl, '_Hinata…was that her name?_', still in her normal seat in the back of the room, and still blushing (she had gone back to daydreaming to pass the time). Nodding his head at the fact that neither of the two was paying much attention, Naruto slunk over to the classroom board and got an eraser and put more chalk dust on it by crushing one of the pieces of chalk that had fallen to the ground and had never gotten picked up by Iruka.

With his new 'Weapon of White Destruction', he devised a trap for their instructor, Hatake Kakashi was the name Iruka-sensai had given them, by simply setting it between the door jam and the door itself, hopped off of the chair he was using, and then moved it back to the desk and sat there, still grumbling about missing his lunch of ramen. Then the door opened and the eraser fell onto the person's head, dusting the leaf hitai-ate and his silver hair white, and causing their teacher to blink. Naruto, of course, thought that this was hilariously funny and pointed and laughed, which brought Hinata out of her mental musing to look at Naruto again before glancing at their instructor, who, admittedly was entertaining with his head a few shades too white, which caused her to giggle uncontrollably. Sasuke, well, Sasuke didn't really do anything except think that their teacher was useless.

"I'd have to say that on my first impression…that I hate all of you." the Jounin stated, getting again no reaction out of Sasuke, an unbelieving stare out of Naruto, and an end to Hinata's giggling. I have a mission for all of you already. Meet me at the platform near the Hokage mountain tomorrow at eleven sharp. I'll be waiting for you all. You can have the rest of the day off." And then Kakashi turned sharply and left, leaving a stunned Naruto and Co. behind.

"Well, that was fun, but I'll catch you all later." said Sasuke as he stood and calmly walked out of the room, leaving Naruto and Hinata behind.

Naruto put his hands behind his head and turned to Hinata, causing her heart to skip a few beats.

'_He noticed me, he's looking at me, we're the only ones in here right now, and he's LOOKING AT ME!_' Hinata blushed furiously and put a hand to her lips, covering them in a sign of coyness.

"Hey Hinata, I'm hungry, wanna go eat lunch?"

'_He asked me to eat lunch with him! I'm so happy! Lunch! Joy! With Naruto-kun and just the two of us!_' she thought, but what she said was, "S-sure Naruto-s-san. I'd l-like to go eat l-lunch w-with you." She got up, and still embarrassed, followed Naruto over to the Ramen shop, where he pulled aside the curtain for her and sat down and ordered for the both of them (Hinata didn't seem to mind much) a medium bowl of chicken ramen and a green tea.

While waiting for their orders, Naruto began talking to Hinata. "So, you're Hyuuga Hinata? I hadn't seen you around the classroom much. You must be pretty good at getting out of presentations in front of the class doing doppelgangers or transformations, huh?" To emphasize that point, he pointed at her with his chopsticks.

"K-kind of, I-I guess." Hinata was busy trying to hold down her embarrassment to answer with much more complicated sentences than that. She was curious, though, as to why he invited her out to lunch, and after much thought, during which Naruto continued talking about ramen, and being a Hokage, and what the mission was to be the next day. Finally, she got the courage to ask him. "N-naruto?"

"Hnn?" He was just about to continue on about the mission maybe being about the retrieval of the Hokage's pet cat, but he thought he had talked enough already.

"W-why did you a-ask me t-to ea-eat l-lunch with y-y-you?"

"Hmm…I don't know actually. Guess I wanted company to eat, and to get to know you better, seeing as how we'll be together for some time, going on missions together and what not, and I didn't really want to get to know Sasuke, know what I mean?" Naruto laughed at this last statement while Hinata's mind was busy roving through what he just said, totally ignoring some of the words that he said and sticking with a few of them.

"Ah." '_He wants to get to know me, being together, together…with Naruto-kun._'

Luckily for her, the ramen came before Naruto could ask what was making her blush. The ramen distracted him long enough for her to return more or less to normal, her skin becoming a creamy color again, although still a little flushed as she ate her ramen and watched Naruto inhale his. When he was finished, he started up talking again to her, this time telling her about him, omitting, of course, the fact that the Fox demon Kyuubi was sealed inside of him as well as well as the idea of everybody hating him. This was actually the first person besides Iruka-sensei who talked with him, although she seemed to stutter a bit, it was no matter. She was also the first female to eat with him. When she was finished, she excused herself from the shop, and Naruto followed for a ways. They needed to go home, as night was starting to fall. Turns out that she lived in the same direction that he did so when he got to his place, he wished her a good night, and went on inside.

Hinata stood outside for a while, watching him with her Byakuugan before making sure he couldn't see her well at all before turning around and actually going home, which was in completely opposite direction, happy for once, because she just spent most of the afternoon with her "Naruto-kun."

'_Father might get upset that I was out so late but…he shouldn't do anything overly drastic I hope._'

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Well, that's it for now…sorry it's so short. I'll make the next one longer. Promise.

Read and review. I'll answer all of the reviews that I get if I'm able to.

Drahylin Estollcri


	2. Every Action has a Reaction

HA! I fulfilled my end of the bargain, I made this chapter longer. Ahem, anyway, on with the chapter!

I apologize for any and all clerical errors in the last chapter. I do plan on fixing them eventually, but I did not have a beta reader at that moment in time, but I went and found a couple, so there should be less of them in this chapter.

A/N: Can't find a couple, so there my still be errors in this chapter, but there are less.

All reviews that I've received will be answered at the bottom, because I do like to get to the story quickly, as I'm sure you all do as well.

All criticisms, flames, slaps on the back, free food, free money, and/or advice are welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor would I want to…I just would like Hyuuga Hinata to be mine…as long as a certain someone didn't mind of course.

" Spoken "

' _Thoughts_ '

( Random Thoughts )

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_**Chapter Two: Every Action Has a Reaction**_

'_Father might not like it that I was out so late today but…He shouldn't do anything overly drastic I hope._'

What that semi-comforting thought, Hinata checked one last time to see if Naruto was watching her (both with her normal vision and with that of her Byakuugan) before turning around and walking in the actual direction that she lived. Naturally, that was in no way, shape, or form in the direction of Naruto's apartment, unless you counted walking past his small living space and turning completely around being in the same direction. The Hyuuga manor was actually all the way across town, but Hinata couldn't think of any good reason to go straight home; not when she could walk and chat a little with Naruto-kun.

She intended on going home after Naruto went inside, and was even headed there before she decided that a little discretion was in order. She'd never had to sneak home before, but what if, just what if her Father was angry with her? She shouldn't be attracting attention to herself by trotting along like she was, she should walk like she did at the academy, with the small mousey feeling to it, so no one would pay attention, and therefore, say that she was out of the manor after she should have been. Hinata slowed, and looked downward, and let her hands fidget with each other, so it looked like she was nervous or embarrassed about something.

'_I wonder if Naruto was actually telling the truth about why he asked me to lunch. Well, lunch and dinner. We kind of kept talking. He did anyway; I couldn't get up enough courage to talk as much as he did. Maybe he talks when he's nervous instead of not talking? I'll have to ask him about it tom…_'

She continued thinking along those lines, attempting to pick apart how Naruto had acted at the ramen shop in some feeble attempt to find some ounce of some hidden feeling in the loud-mouthed shinobi until…

"Ahh!" Hinata let out a small squeak as she walked directly into somebody else wandering about in the bluish twilight.

"Gomen nasai, Gomen nasai. I wasn't watching where I was…"

"But we were. And we were looking for you." whispered the person she had hit, and who hadn't even budged. '_A girl…_' Hinata thought, right before she tried to stand up, ignoring the stinging sensation she felt in her palm and on her rear from the hard packed ground. This was when the girl she had hit shoved her back down to the ground, hard.

"Why was a no-talent thing like you put on Team Seven, with our Sasuke-kun?" The voice seemed even more irate now than it had originally for some reason.

More voices were chiming in now, with only two distinct voices coming out of the audible miasma. It was likely that there were more, but Hinata couldn't recognize any of the voices, and she couldn't see the faces.

"Yeah, why do you get to be with him?"

"Why not me? I'm better than you, both in shinobi skills and in looks you baka."

"He probably won't care that you're on his team; both you and that Uzumaki are both weak. "

"He'd probably be better off with someone good-looking, like me."

"Shut up Ino-pig!"

With this new bit of information, Hinata's mind went to work. Hidden under her timid exterior was a mind that rivaled Hyuuga Neji's in speed and accuracy of the thoughts that were produced within.

'_Ah, so two of my assailants are Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. Both are girls after Sasuke's heart and are bitter rivals over the fact. I have no idea which one of them decided that it would be better if they were enemies. So, with that fact, only Sakura would call Ino, the only Ino in our class, 'Ino-pig'. But the rest…they're probably just other girls who love Sasuke; well, love is probably too strong of a word, like is better. I bet none of them even know what love truly is. I know because I love Naruto, even if I can probably never say it to his face, I still know that I do._'

Surprising how close that was in reality, as there were actually one or two girls who actually only liked Sasuke, and knew it, but the rest were convinced that they were completely in love with the mysterious Uchica. And it was a sure bet that, had Hinata stayed conscious, that she would have managed to correctly identify every person in the small mob, but she was struck from behind something long, hard, and probably metal. Sinking into unconsciousness, her last thought was,

'_Naruto-kun…did you have a good time tonight?_'

**Meanwhile, at Naruto's apartment**

After saying good night to Hinata, Naruto opened the door of his vaguely clean apartment. I mention vaguely clean simply because he didn't have enough stuff to make an extraordinary mess with. He had a bed, a couch, and the necessary kitchen stuffs to make minor meals for himself; pretty much just what he needed to survive. The dirtiest rooms in the entire place would have been his bedroom and his kitchen; both of them had dirty dishes strewn about wherever Naruto had finished eating. Looking around from the door, he sighed, and walked in. He stumbled over to his couch and threw some of the crap off of it and onto the floor before he sat, and let the events of that day run through his head.

'_Why did Hinata seem so nervous today? Did she not want to come and eat with me or something? Maybe she doesn't really like ramen and didn't want to offend me…nah, no one would try to not offend me. Maybe she was worried about her parents and getting into trouble. We did stay kind of long at the shop._'

'_Why did you ask her to eat with you? Iruka was going to treat you to ramen tonight anyway because of your rise to the Genin level. So why blow him off for Hyuuga Hinata? A weird, plain girl?_'

'_Well…we're going to be on the same Team, and I didn't know much about her, so I figured then was as good of a time as ever. You never know when knowledge like that might help, especially on missions. I can't wai…_'

'_Then why not ask Uchica Sasuke? He's on your Team as well._'

'_He left before I could ask him though…_'

'_No he didn't, and you know it. You could have stopped him before he left. I think I should rephrase the question then. Was wanting to get to know her better the only reason that you invited her?_'

'_Huh?_'

'_Never mind._'

Thoroughly confused now, Naruto stood up and stretched a little before going over to the window to look out before he changed and went to bed. It was an old ritual to him, as he could see Hokage Mountain out the window, and envision his face on it. He saw the mountain, but he also saw a group of girls walking along the street and gossiping with each other.

'_Strange,_' Naruto thought. '_One of them is limping and another's being carried by the rest. Oh well, I'll ask Hinata about it tomorrow._'

Naruto kept watching them and, as they passed under one of the street lamps, he noticed something frightening. The limping girl was Sakura-chan, but the girl being carried, unconscious, with what looked like blood matting her hair to her head and with more dripping out of her mouth and onto her ripped sweatshirt and down her arms to her bound hands, was Hyuuga Hinata. Immediately his mind went into a deep confusion. Hinata had obviously been beaten by people, but the group down there had Sakura-chan in it, and surely she wouldn't hurt another person from Konohagakure.

'_She had to have done it though…there's simply no other explanation. Go help Hinata._'

Following his own advice, Naruto opened his window and leaped, not caring about landing, but simply leaping into the air to land, kneeling, in front of the girls. The group, '_Lead by Ino_.' Naruto noticed, came to a halt, with some of the people in the back wondering why they had all stopped.

"Why did you do this?" Naruto snarled at them. "How could you hurt another person of this village and then not care? Answer me!"

A kunai flashing towards him was his answer. Deftly catching it, he pocketed it while looking for the person who threw it, not wanting to know the truth.

"Give my Kunai back you loser."

Sakura-chan. It had to be Sakura who had thrown the blade, aiming to kill, at him. Why was fate so cruel? Why did it have to be the one that he loved? Wait, scratch that, thought that he loved. She called him a loser, and had attempted to kill him off in the street, hadn't she? She is unfit for his love. Shaking his head, he resolved to break down about it later; he had a job to do right now.

"What do you mean no? I said give it back." By this time Sakura was limping towards him, ignoring Ino's warning hand gesture. "It's mine, so you shouldn't keep it. It'd be stealing."

Naruto's heart had frozen when the kunai came flashing towards him. He'd regret it later, but for now…

"Okay." He uttered as he rose to his feet, pulled out her kunai, and slung it at her, piercing the ground and one of her zori as it landed with enough force to actually sink into the rock hard dirt. "Take it then. And then leave Hinata. We have a mission tomorrow, and our entire Team need to be there, and in good health. So she needs treatment, and none of you can be trusted with giving it to her."

Hinata stirred in her nightmares, most involving Naruto in some way shape or form. In some he saved her, in some he fought her, in some he killed her; those were the worst. Even if she wasn't likely to remember them when she woke up, they were still terrible. She struggled to get away from them, but to no avail, she simply sunk in deeper.

"Didn't you hear me? Please set her down and leave here. I can recognize three or four of you, so I can always go and tell some of the Jounin about this…"

Understanding the threat of the elite shinobi, the girls muttered amongst themselves for a moment while Naruto, fuming the entire time, stood implacably in the road at the edge of the light. Sakura, however, was lost for words, or anything else really, after watching him warn her with the kunai, knowing full well that if he had aimed just a little bit further up, it wouldn't be at the unused toe of her zori, it would be imbedded in her ankle, no, sticking through and into her zori.

Ino finally spoke for the girls. "How do we know that you won't simply tell them anyway?"

"You have my word as a shinobi of Konohagakure Village. And I won't take it back. That's my ninja way."

She nodded as she gestured to the rest of the girls to set the beaten Hyuuga down. Then, taking Sakura's hand, breaking her shock, she dragged her away, down the street, and the rest of the girls dispersed, muttering all the while. The only things Naruto caught were 'Sasuke-kun', 'taught her', and 'next time'. The fury that had boiled in Naruto before from seeing Hinata's limp and bloody form was nothing compared to what was felt when he bellowed out a final warning to the retreating kunoichi.

"If any of you ever think of telling anybody about this deal, or even consider doing it again, then I will personally hunt each of you down and remove an ear, or a pet, or someone valuable to you, and you will never see it again. This I promise you all as well." With his final words, the mob of kunoichi decided that it would be a far better idea to run away, rather than saunter away.

When they were all away, Naruto went over to the kunai in the ground, and pulled it out and put it in his pouch. Then we walked over to Hinata and grimaced at what he saw. Her bloody head, the blood dried on the side of her mouth, the various bruises that were beginning to show all over her body, the cuts from shuriken and kunai. He almost vomited at the viciousness of that…pack. Tired, he still knew enough to not have a 2 man Team, so he gently picked her up, and stumbled off towards the Konoha Hospital, so that Hinata could be treated. She didn't wake up once, even when Naruto stumbled and fell, dropping her onto the ground. All she did was groan a little.

'_Come on, just a little bit further._'

After about an hour of stumbling, tripping, falling (usually on his back, so prevent her from even more injury, as well as to avoid opening the semi-fresh ones), and growing steadily more tired, Naruto and his fallen Team member made it to the Hospital. He was barely able to get to the doors and get them open before falling again on his back, and screaming for help.

"HELP! PLEASE, SOMEBODY…anybody…help her." His final words were spoken as he lay, panting for breath, his vision swimming with blackness and medical-nins. He passed out lying on the floor.

**Later…time unknown**

Naruto sat straight up, weariness gone, as it usually was, no matter how hard he had trained the day before. But what remained was a worry that Sakura and her cronies had almost killed another Genin from the same village. It made him sick to his stomach, so he rolled out of his…bed? He didn't remember being put into a bed. Or of obtaining all of the injuries that he obviously had, if the number of bandages covering him were any measure. He stumbled out of the bed and made it to the bathroom and had used it. After relieving himself, he removed the bandages, revealing that he was wearing a white long sleeved shirt and shorts.

'P_robably because my other clothes were dirty or something._' he told himself. He looked in the mirror before leaving the bathroom, revealing a clean face with a few scrapes and scratches still, his usually messy blonde hair, and clear azure eyes, still a touch foggy with sleep. Grinning a sly grin, he left the bathroom, just in time to see a nurse frantically searching the room.

"Where did he go? He was here just a few minute ago, he couldn't have left in that amount of time, there's just no way." She was muttering, looking under the bed before noticing him standing near the bathroom with a devilish grin plastered across his face. "There you are, you shouldn't be out of bed yet, you were rather…erm…beaten up. Never mind. I guess. Must have just been the dirt that made it look worse than it actually was."

"Forget me." Naruto's face turned serious. "Where's my friend?"

"She's still in the emergency wing. She should actually be ready to go, but the hurts that were inflicted upon her were…grievous to say the least. The clothes that you brought her here in were almost completely destroyed, so we got her some new ones from the stores and put her family crest on those. She seemed worried about you however. Sure you're just friends?"

Naruto's face turned got a contemplative look on it. "Last I checked. We barely graduated from the Academy and we had just been put on the same Team. Where is the emergency?"

"Down the hall and on your…" the nurse held up her hands in an 'L' shape before saying, "left. Yeah, last door on your left."

"Thanks ma'am." Naruto bowed quickly before leaving his room, wincing slightly at cuts that seemed to have been earned from his shuriken pouch being fell upon several times. It seemed that those had not healed fully. They would in time however, he knew that much. As progressed down the halls of the hospital, feeling slightly ill; hospitals had that effect on him.

He reached the door of the emergency and found the desk and asked for "Hyuuga Hinata's room please." This earned him a secretive grin from the female clerk, who directed him towards room 43. He thanked her, and hunted down room 43 and knocked softly a few times.

Kakashi, their new sensei, answered the door. "Yes? Ah, Naruto. Come in, come in. Heard that two of my Team had fallen into the hospital, both bleeding from wounds, and collapsed in the lobby; needless to say, the mission for today was been cancelled until Hinata-san gets better."

Naruto nodded in understanding before slipping inside the room, under Kakashi's arm, and spotted Hinata lying under the pristine white sheets, a contrast to her cream skin, even paled as it was.

"N-Naru…"

"Shh…you shouldn't be talking Hinata-san. You'll get better faster. He was the one who brought you here this morning." said Kakashi. At this Naruto jumped.

"This morning?"

"I thought you knew Naruto. It's two in the afternoon after all. I wondered where you both were when I showed up to the meeting. Sasuke's currently attempting to climb trees using one arm and one leg." Kakashi paused for a chuckle before continuing. "When he learns how to climb like that, he'll only get his arm. Should be entertaining. I'll go check on him." As he left Hinata's room, he pulled out a small book, Ichi Ichi Paradise, Vol 2, from his back pocket, and started to blush as he weaved past the nurses, who looked at him strangely before giggling.

"How are you feeling Hinata?" he asked, his voice having a little ramble in it for some peculiar reason, but to no avail. Hinata had already slipped back into slumber. Naruto shrugged, and decided to sit and wait for her to wake up on her own.

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Wow, five reviews, and all of them positive. Too bad no one offered me money. Oh well, I'll answer all that need answering here.

**Scorpio V1.2**: I like to think it's cool, but I wrote it, so I have to think that, eh? I'll try not to have it be too long before they hook up, but it has to be believable, doesn't it? It will, however, be a while (one or two chapters) before anything happens, period.

**Julian Amici**: Thanks for the compliment, I got tired of crappily written fics, so I promised myself I'd write a good one. As for Iruka being a Jounin in my story, well…Let's just say that he's a Jounin and not a Chuunin. I always thought he should have been a Jounin in any case. As for the Writers Block Demon, have no fears, I can always go off on a quick Omake or something, or go to Sasuke and Sakura or something.

**Xoni Newcomer**: Thanks for the very nice review. I noticed that her arguing with herself was a bit confusing, but I figured that it might be on of the reasons of why she was so timid before; she over thought things. I tried to be realistic, but I don't think it worked that well myself. Naruto talking with himself works though…for reasons everyone is aware of (I hope). Naruto and Hinata keep becoming more and more OOC as this goes along, but Naruto is still all about being kind to his few friends. And I totally forgot I made it for signed only…I'll change that.

**All other reviews**: Thanks for the compliments, and I will work hard to try to bring a chapter every week or two.

'Till next time

Drahylin Estollcri


	3. Wishful Thinking

There shouldn't be many, if any, errors in that last Chapter. Thank you oh mighty beta reader, (I only have one…and he's a pain to get a hold of).

Bear with me with the next few chapters…math is being evil, so I'll be updating maybe every other week, depends on how hard I work on my grade. That and my Naruto DVDs are coming in soon so…updates my get longer in between.

All reviews that I've received for the last chapter that need answering I'll answer at the bottom, because I do like to get to the story quickly, as I'm sure you all do as well.

All criticisms, flames, slaps on the back, free food, free money, and/or advice are welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor would I want to…I just would like Hyuuga Hinata to be mine…as long as a certain someone didn't mind of course.

" Spoken "

' _Thoughts_ '

( Random Thoughts )

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_**Chapter Three: Wishful Thinking**_

It was now 9 at night, and Naruto was starting to get worried. True, Hinata had woken up earlier when he first came in, but since then, she hadn't moved at all.

'_I wish Hinata would wake up…I don't really want one of my friends, especially a new friend, to have to stay in the hospital._'

Several times the nurses had come in to check on Hinata, and he fervently watched the nurses work each time, as if that would allow Hinata to wake up sooner than normal. Each time the nurses comforted him, and told him that his girlfriend would be all right, she was just tired, that was all. Each time he responded that she wasn't his girlfriend, to which the nurses simply smiled and told him of course she wasn't, before leaving them alone again.

'_Can I truly forgive those…girls… for what they did to Hinata?_'

'_Good question, can you really forgive them? Or will you harbor hatred in your heart from now until you die, just over their one action?_'

'_They hurt one of my friends. I just don't know if I can go back to talking to Sakura or Ino; never mind the fact that they never talked to me in the first place._'

'_Then don't Naruto. Ignore them. It will hurt them, even if they didn't like you in the first place; they'll miss the attention, Sakura most of all._'

'_But…maybe they didn't mean to..._'

'_Heheheh._'

'_What's so funny?_'

'_Nothing boy. Nothing whatsoever._'

Naruto was kind of startled at the fact that he called himself boy. He'd never do that...Wait! Hinata was…struggling in her sleep. At least she was moving…

**Hinata's Mind**

"No! Please stop! Let me go!" Hinata was screaming at the group of kunoichi after recovering from the blow she had received before. She was being carried like a prize that they had all won, one person holding onto her wrists, another holding onto her ankles so that she was dangling about three, four feet off of the ground. She writhed in their grasps, attempting to get free before she realized that escape was possible at any moment in time, simply by virtue of her blood. She gathered chakra in her hands and feet before releasing it into her captors' hands chakra coils, burning them so that they would let her go.

'_Not the best idea in the world, but it worked._' She thought as she landed, knocking the wind out of her. The girls that she had burned were busy screaming and rubbing their burnt palms against their thighs in a futile effort to cool them. Hinata was satisfied to know that the chakra damage that she had caused in their hands would heal after a few minutes, leaving no lasting damage behind. Even if they had knocked her out, she truly wished no real harm on them. The burns would simply stop them from using their hands for anything until it wore off. She started to get up, getting to a kneeling position before…

One of them, '_Sakura by the voice_' Hinata thought, screamed at her.

"BITCH!"

Sakura had evidently assigned to watch Hinata to make sure that she remained out cold. Failing that, she dashed over to Hinata's kneeling form, and kicked her as hard as she coiuld in the stomach. Hinata grunted as she flew a couple of feet away before landing in a crumpled heap.

Sakura started to saunter towards her, speaking to her. "First you steal our Sasuke-kun, now you try to hurt us. When will you learn baka? You are going to punished for your transgression, no matter what you try to do." She reached Hinata's shuddering form and decided that it would be a good idea to punish her a little now, to show her what she in for later. So she once again kicked Hinata in her stomach, hard;

'_For Sasuke-kun!_' and then again, '_For Ino!_', and again '_For your Team leader, and for anyone who has had to put up with a worthless being such as yourself._', until Hinata was coughing up blood onto the ground.

"Sakura, stop!"

"Not a chance Ino-pig. You know what she did."

The rest of the girls started to plead with Sakura to please stop, stop before she killed Hinata. Their pleads fell on deaf ears, however, as Sakura grinned an evil grin, and turned to kick Hinata once more, '_For Sasuke-kun, again!_' ,and would have knocked her unconscious had her zori actually connected with Hinata's head.

Unfortunately for Sakura, Hinata had decided that it was a life and death situation now, and that she didn't feel like dying. Hinata had drawn upon her Clan's personal Taijutsu, the Gentle Fist style. Her Byakuugan activated, she saw the foot's chakra move start to swing towards her and blocked it with one hand, using the momentum to flip herself into the air to land on her feet. She noticed Sakura's chakra coils start to move in a way that suggested that Sakura was nervous now, very nervous.

"Not so brave when your opponent is standing, now are you Sakura? Besides, I didn't ask to be put on Team Seven with Sasuke, it just happened. I don't particularly like him at all actually." Not actually telling the half-truth was one of Hinata's best talents. It had gotten her out of trouble several times before with her Father, who could tell, with his own Byakuugan, if she was lying or not.

'_Father's not going to be happy when I make it home._'

Sakura moved suddenly, sprinting towards the ready Hinata, forgetting that she had shuriken and kunai at all. Hinata blocked the oncoming fist with a chakra-laden hand, relieving Sakura of its usefulness. A few more hands, which softly brushed against her chest, caused Sakura to stumble. Hinata glanced at the fallen kunoichi before kneeling down and placing her hands over the chakra coils in Sakura's leg. The rest of the group, first recovering from Hinata actually waking up, and then from the alacrity of the brutal fight, muttered and began to advance on the Hyuuga, who leaned into Sakura's ear, to pass on a secret it seemed, although that definitely wasn't the case.

"Since you like to kick those who are down, here's a tip…don't do it." Hissed the strange voice, so unlike Hinata's usual tone. The voice sounded like a whispering banshee; it was so full of uncharacteristic malice. Hinata grinned as her chakra flowed from her hands and into Sakura's leg, almost severing the thick coils. As she had left them, the leg couldn't hold Sakura's weight for very long for a good 6 months. It was akin to breaking her leg, but without the mess. After all, in a life and death fight, Hinata still didn't wish permanent harm on them.

The pain, however, was still akin to a broken femur, but, instead of screaming, which Sakura knew would wake up some of the nearby neighbors, she simply clamped her mouth shut, and glared at Hinata, who started to have second thoughts about injuring her this severely.

'_Maybe I shouldn't have done that…at least now she won't do it again, to me or to anybody else. Perhaps I should have tried talking to her instead or something._'

The rest of the girls had finally advanced to within a few feet of Hinata, who rose from next to Sakura to look at them. Then the enormity of what Hinata had said before sank into them, and they all looked at her with varying degrees of shock and disbelief on their faces. Ino decided that she was still the spokesman of the group, especially now that her hands had stopped hurting.

"You said you don't even like Sasuke? Then do you want to switch teams with me?"

"Or me!"

"Pick my team to be on!"

"No, mine!"

"Ah!" was Hinata's reply, stumbling back a bit from the overeager girls. "No, no, I want to stay on Team Seven."

"Oh really? came the voices of the gossip hungry pack.

"Then do you like the other boy? Uzumaki Naruto I think his name is…" Ino's question somehow managed to break out of the ceaseless chatter and silenced the entire group all at the same time. Hinata simply stood and started to blush a bit before commenting.

"I-it's not like that; I-Iruka-sensai p-put us all on t-the teams so that we'd all be a-about equal in str-strength, so we should k-keep them that w-way."

"Ohhhh. Maybe we shouldn't have done this then." was the general consensus of the crowd of kunoichi. Most used different words, but that was what it wall boiled down to. Except for Sakura, who was attempting to get to her feet, well, foot, and stand. Finally getting there, but being unable to even touch the ground with her chakra-less leg, she scowled.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have done this, but perhaps you shouldn't have screwed with my leg and Ino's hands. We're going to make you pay for it wench, aren't we?"

A muttering was Sakura's only answer, so being impatient, she chucked a shuriken back into the group, nailed one girl in the chest. She stumbled a little while the entire group stared at the injury their de facto leader had caused.

"I said aren't we, so answer!" was her low growl towards them all. The girls were all thinking that maybe they should have spent tonight having a sleepover or something else less harmless, like stealing the Hokage's hat.

"Are we going to let this brat get away with what she's done to me?" Sakura raised one of her hands to show the dirt encrusted on it from her fall, and then to her face, which was in much of he same way, and then to her leg, hanging limply below her. Sakura wasn't dumb though, she was already having her chakra repair the damage done. She should be able to place some weight on it in a little bit, but beyond that it would have to heal normally, or else she might damage the coils. Although she couldn't see them, she knew they were there still.

"Are we girls? She ended up with Sasuke on her Team, so what? I say we simply remove her from our Sasuke-kun and that totally useless, noisy orphan Naruto."

The assemblage agreed more out of fear of her rather than wanting to do anything to Hinata.

"Good. Now then…" turning to Hinata, Sakura grinned. "What shall the punishment be? Oh! I know! This!" Sakura pulled and threw a kunai at Hinata, hitting her in the shoulder, before throwing one that hit her leg.

"Come on you baka! Throw things at her, just don't get close enough, or she might kill you."

Then, again out of fear, each girl took up a kunai or a shuriken, and aimed carefully and threw it so that they only caused superficial wounds, albeit bloody ones, or so that the kunai's handle hit Hinata instead of the deadly blade. Sakura didn't notice this as she kept throwing all of her kunai and shuriken at Hinata, hitting her everywhere; arms, legs, torso, didn't matter to Sakura as she let each potentially lethal bit of metal fly. Eventually Hinata couldn't stand the pain, and fell to her knees, which caused one of the girl's kunai, which would have hit her chest with it's handle and done nothing due to the sweatshirt, to hit her in the forehead instead, and knocked Hinata backwards onto her back. She knew no more as the world turned black.

/\ /\ /\ /\ /\

"Phew." said Sakura, no then, let's tie up her hands so she can't use them against us if she wakes up again. Or I'll make sure she doesn't wake up again." She stalked over to Hinata's prone and bloody form and began methodically pulling out her weapons, as well as those of the other girls, and tossed the ones not belonging to her back to them. Producing a rope out of one of her leg pouch and then going to the numb Ino and taking her rope, went and tied Hinata's hands several times.

"There Sakura, now let's take her to the Hospital. She does need treatment." came Ino's pleading argument.

"Fine Ino-pig, let's fix up the little wench." Sakura gestured to Hinata's unconscious form and to the girls, pantomiming that they should all carry her, so she couldn't perform a repeat of her actions again. Frightened, the girls did as bidden, leaving Ino and Sakura to lead the way, figuring that Ino could best handle a very pissed off Sakura, given their time as friends/rivals.

'_That'll teach her to screw with the Team dossier._' was Sakura's thought.

/\ /\ /\ /\ /\

Hinata stirred in her sleep in her hospital bed, before opening her eyes wide in shock, first thinking that she was bleeding from a dozen or more wounds, and then hoping that the events of…yesterday? had not actually happened. Her eyes were greeted with darkness, so Hinata reached over, felt out a light, and turned it on. One look at her body told a different story; people usually don't put a healthy person in the hospital with bandages.

'_Did they bring me here?_' she wondered. A small snoring sound coming from one of the semi-darkened corners caused her to bolt straight up, fully alert, and then to fall back down with a muffled moan of pain caused by the unhealed cuts and bruises.

The snoring continued unabated however, telling Hinata that one of her Clan's member's had come to watch over her while she stayed in the hospital.

'_Or they're watching over the Byakuugan._' she thought. '_Either way, it was sweet of them to have someone stay overnight. They must have done some fairly convincing arguing to get to stay in my room if nothing else._' Hinata smiled at the form against the wall before leaning back in her bed and closing her eyes once again, this time, hopefully to dream of better things.

**The next morning**

Naruto yawned as he woke before attempting to roll out of his futon, which he quickly discovered he wasn't in when he hit the wall, face-first.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow." he held his nose as he rolled around for a moment, before the events of the previous two days came rushing back to him, stopping him with their enormity. Team Seven being declared. Eating and talking with Hinata. Saving Hinata from the pack of kunoichi. Visiting the hospital. Falling asleep waiting for Hinata to wake up.

Other thoughts in his head now, he get up to his feet to check on Hinata again.

'_At least this time she's not thrashing around in her sleep like she did last night…_' he thought, vividly remembering her frantic motions as she attempted to get away from something. He had to call in the nurses to make sure that she didn't hurt herself. He was a little frightened still over Hinata and what those…harlots had done. Naruto still had no idea why they would do such a thing. Or why Sakura would do something like that.

'_It still makes no sense, Sakura wouldn't do something like that. She's not that violent of a person._'

A stirring on the bed brought him out of his contemplation of Sakura's reasoning. He strolled over to the bed and looked at Hinata's sleeping face.

'_She is quite attractive…wait, why did I think that? No matter, it is true. It's pretty cool to have a beautiful friend._'

'_Heheheheheheh._'

'_Why are you laughing?_' Naruto had decided that it couldn't have been him thinking half the time, he never would think of laughing at himself in his head. He did that out loud and at full volume.

'_I'm just laughing because you have no clue do you?_'

'_Clue about what?_'

'_A clue about your comrade there Naruto._'

'_What are you saying?_'

'_You'll figure it out eventually. And if you don't, then I still won't help you._'

'_Baka._'

Slowly Hinata's eyes opened and looked into Naruto's cerulean ones.

Shocked, Naruto thought, '_Wow, Hinata's eyes aren't white, they have…purple in them? No…it's lavender or something. Huh…things you didn't know._' What he said, however, was, "Hey Hinata, how are you feeling?"

It was Hinata's turn to be shocked now. '_Naruto? Why's he here? Wait, he's wearing the hospital's clothes. He must have been hurt last night somehow…was he the one who brought me here? But if he was, then how did he manage to convince them to let him stay in my room?_' But Hinata didn't actually say anything, she was too happy that Naruto had watched over her that she couldn't. All she could do was nod.

"Good, glad to hear that you're better. I'm going to get out of here though, 'cause my own clothes are way more comfortable than these." With that he stood up and gave Hinata a genuine smile before turning to leave.

"N-naruto, wait, pl-please." Her voice was soft, but he still managed to pick it up, and so he turned and came back to her side. Blushing a deep crimson, she slowly placed one of her hands over one of Naruto's and gave it a small squeeze. "Could y-you c-come back l-later Naruto?"

"Sure Hinata, no problem."

"T-thanks."

"Yeah, gotta go now though, See you later, and get better quick, all right?"

"I'll try." Was the last thing Naruto heard before he left her room and then, shortly thereafter, the Hospital. He had to go find out why Sakura did what she did, and to apologize for the kunai incident and return it to her. This task in mind, Naruto walked off to his house, striding confidently in his white clothes.

'_Wow, Hinata's hands are soft._'

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Fear the cliffhangers! Well, this isn't really a cliffhanger, but it's kinda close.

Okay, so I got a lot of reviews this time, didn't I? I love it, and I like all of you. Let's review; love the reviews, like all of you.

Oh, and I NEED BETA READERS! I'd like if I could ask **AlphaC**, **Xoni Newcomer**, and **Scorpio V1.2** if I could recruit them as beta readers for this fan fiction. If any or all of you three want the job, it's yours. E-mail me or say it in the reviews and I'll e-mail you. It's hard getting a hold of the people I know around here and have them do it, although it is possible, it's just harder than hell.

Onto the reviews!

**Squirrelnoshi**: How much money could you send? Just kidding, thanks for the offer though.

**Nonengel**: You'll just have to find out, eh? Should be in the next chapter or so.

**JohnnyG**: They will…next chapter.

**Scorpio V1.2**: I actually DID take my time with the chapters…I just write a lot, and now that it's focused, I'm cranking them out…I might take a break eventually, but you never know…

**Xoni Newcomer**: You are still the coolest reviewer I think. And you are right, I didn't put that forward enough, but the reasons for her actions are in this chapter. I hope they work. If not, tell me about it. Great review and thank you.

**Dan Inverse**: Yeah, but cliffhangers are fun!

**ALL OTHER REVIEWERS**: Yes, Sakura and Ino bashing will be occurring.

Hinata did pay them back, but she might do more alter, I don't know yet.

Revenge will be gotten…eventually, but I will choose the punishment.

Hinata will worm her way in, it'll just take a while damn it, because I want to see it happen as well.

Okay, that's all of the reviews, keep 'em coming in, and the story will keep getting better and better!

'till next time.

Drahylin Estollcri


	4. Punishment Fits the Crime

Ah, I so do love getting reviews. Getting a little under ten a chapter now. So far I have…oh…5 beta readers for this story, each skilled in their own fields. Should make the updates a touch slower, but hey, having no errors is a good thing, eh?

I'm also experimenting with symbols to mean different things, to see what will accept.

UPDATE: ((Insert Shikamaru's voice)) Trig is still a giant pain in my ass…it's too troublesome to do. That and a couple of my Beta's haven't done their Beta-ing yet, so This chapter will have some updates later…Thanks Scorpio V1.2!

All reviews that I've received for the last chapter that need answering will be answered at the end of the chapter, as they take time, effort, and a lot of room to answer. And getting to the story as fast as possible is a good thing, eh?

All criticisms, flames, slaps on the back, free food, free money, and/or advice are welcome.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor would I want to…I just would like Hyuuga Hinata to be mine, so long as a certain someone didn't mind of course.

" Spoken "

' _Thoughts _'

( Random Thoughts)

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_**Chapter Four: Punishment Fits the Crime**_

Naruto's mind churned in contemplation as he strolled towards his apartment. '_And is even stranger is that she'd even want to… Most times when people look at me, they have a contemptible look in their eyes, as if they'd like nothing more than to have me disappear down a deep dark hole or something similar. Iruka used to be the only one who didn't look at me like that. And Hinata doesn't either it seems…why else would she hold my hand? Does this mean she doesn't hate me? That'd be AWESOME! Then I'd have another person that I could talk to, and she'd be my age too, so there would be less awkwardness when I talk to her. That and maybe I could try to hold her hand again…it was the first time, but I never realized that a girl's hands were so soft or warm…_'

'_Astute observation Naruto. What's the next one? Discovering that grass is green? I can't wait to hear it._'

'_Hush. And some grass isn't green, it's blue._' Naruto mentally stuck his tongue out at his other personality. That's what it had to be, right? No one could have something inside of them. It was impractical; after all, how would they eat? And besides…it didn't sound too human, maybe it was just his unhyper side.

Ignoring the random comments sent his direction, both inside and outside of his head; Naruto stumbled over a rock on the sidewalk. At least, it looked like a rock if you were falling and caught it out of the corner of your eye. It had corners…and eyeholes…and moved on its own. Sighing, Naruto walked over to the box, a.k.a. Konohamaru, as he was the only one who would walk around under a box like that, and picked it up.

"Nnh?" The box actually was a rock…albeit a rock with feet. Thinking of a unique and semi-clever way to make Konohamaru show himself, Naruto bent down and threw him/it up into the air and waited. Sure enough, the rock transformed back into the Third Hokage's grandson, who promptly fell headfirst into a tree.

"Hey Boss! Were you impressed by my new Henge?" Came a faint cry from the form clinging to the top of the tree.

"Next time look more like a rock! They still don't have square edges!" was the cheerful reply. Naruto was rather pleased that Konohamaru was getting the hang of the Henge Genjutsu. After all, they still gave HIM trouble. And what's better, although they didn't take much chakra to create, you still had to have a quick mind to make them look correct. The hardest part about his favorite Henge, the Sexy no Jutsu, was getting the breasts right. If he screwed up, then the breasts didn't have the perk that they needed to be a highly effective, and perverted, Jutsu, at least against males. He learned that lesson from the closet pervert Ebisu, when he messed up his first Sexy no Jutsu. He was forced to improvise using Kage Bunshin no Justu to make the Harem no Jutsu. Oh well. That new Jutsu would be handy later on maybe.

Waving cheerfully to Konohamaru, who had now fallen about 10 feet down the tree and was hanging by his scarf, Naruto turned and continued home, confident that his little friend could get out of the tree with minimal harm. As he got closer to his cluttered mess/home, he noticed a scent of something, a sharp tang, almost like cheese, but far worse. He took another few sniffs before sniffing himself and gagging.

'_Maybe I should take a quick bath before I go back to see Hinata. All the staff must have done was rinse off the worst of the dirt. Probably because of Kyuubi being sealed inside of me. They see me as if I am the kitsune and don't treat me as the human being I am. Oh well. I'll have time enough to be sad later, after washing off this dirt and seeing Hinata up at the hospital. If I wallow in self-pity now, then the nurses won't let me in to see her, and then I won't be able to keep my promise to her. I refuse to break my nindo for that'_

Engrossed in his thoughts, Naruto allowed his feet to lead him home. He looked up, finished trying to figure out how long it had been since he last had a bath, and lost count of the days somewhere around 5 when he spied his door slightly ajar. He would have been counting faster, but the last day and a half had been rather hectic.

'_Must have forgotten to close the door last night when I came in._' He dismissed the peculiar state of his door, still owing it to the fact that he simly hadn't been HOME for a day or so, and pushed it the rest of the way open and headed vaguely in the direction of his bedroom; actually, he would have gone straight there, had he not had to dodge random piles of ramen packets, trash, and dirty clothes. Hunting around in his closet for more clothes, he found another suit much like he always wore, except it was a dark blue, and the spiral was a much darker red. '_Damn!_ _It's my last one. I'll have to do laundry before I go back as well or I won't have anything to wear tomorrow…and then the nurses definitely won't let me in to see Hinata._' He threw it on the bed for after his shower. You can't get clean clothes dirty after all…well…excepting the noodles on the bed…but that'd be fine.

He walked out of his room to the kitchen and threw some water on to boil, and then inhaled the bowl of ramen before he searched for all of his dirty clothes, which was a chore in and of itself…some were hidden quite well, and bagged them. After finishing that…disturbing chore, Naruto took a quick shower, making sure to clean himself really well. That job accomplished, and smelling like dried herbs and spices, Naruto left his warm, steamy bathroom, grabbed his giant sack of cloths and embarked to the nearest Laundromat. Several hours later, and a bit of money down from the stupid machines, as well as a few girls who ignored him completely after they saw who he was, Naruto finally had cleaner clothes. He stuffed them back into the bag and trotted back to his apartment where, being Naruto, he located a semi-clean space on the floor and unceremoniously upended the bag, dropping his cloths in a heap. Feeling as if he'd done enough for the day, Naruto polpped down on his couch and looked out his window towards the Hokage mountain.

'_Someday…It'll be my face carved into that cliff, with the same long shadows pouring over my stone face…wait. Shadows? Oh crap! It's afternoon already!_' Naruto whipped his eyes over to the clock on the wall and read the time before leaping to his feet twice, the first attempt being spoiled by his feet landing squarely on a plastic instant ramen wrapper, making his fall over backwards onto his couch.

'_It's three already…and I have to go to Sakura's before visiting Hinata._'

Naruto, in his blue jumpsuit, dashed out his door and was halfway down his block before returning to close and lock his door.

**Back at the Hospital, that morning**

Hinata watched Naruto walk out of his room, thinking the entire time, '_Naruto's hand in mine…what a wonderful feeling. I wonder if he liked it as well. Should I ask him about it later? What if he says no? But his hand in mine…so comforting… _' This particular stream of thought continued for a few hours, until breakfast came in, and Hinata wondered if he was the person who brought her to the hospital or not. Then, while eating her paper-thin bacon and runny eggs wondered if he had eaten, and if it was better than the goop they were having her eat.

Only twice did her thoughts not include him in some fashion. The first was when she attempted to figure out why the other girls would attack her with such ferocity. Yes, she was on the Team with Sasuke, which would cause overwhelming jealousy in a few of the girls and normal jealously or envy in the rest, but enough to attack her like that? Sakura was the main assailant, so it made sense that she was the most jealous, but most of other kunoichi Hinata had talked to at some point…well, maybe talked with was a bit of an overstatement, but she at least was courteous to them.

The second was when a gruff voice, as familiar to Hinata as her own face was, was heard speaking outside of her door. Her father, Hyuuga Hiashi.

"Yes, I am aware of that, will you let me in now?"

"I will when she's done eating, Hyuuga-sama. Perhaps 15 minutes?"

"Now works just as well. I can see that she's not only finished eating, but is listening to us."

Hinata's nurse peeked her head in through the door, giving Hinata a 'sorry, but I tried' look before nodding and ushering in Hiashi.

He was not a physically intimidating man, but the looks he could give someone when he was displeased with them could most likely bring the Third Hokage to his knees, begging for forgiveness. Hinata had the displeasure to have one of those looks directed at her the split second that the nurse left them alone.

"You didn't come home last night." His tone wasn't accusatory, just a simple fact, and that made it all worse somehow. "I wake up this morning, and discover that you had not been home since you left for the academy yesterday morning. Some of the Clan spotted you at a ramen shop in town eating with that Uzumaki boy." He began to advance on Hinata's prone form. "People saw you there early in the afternoon, and then again at dusk. They claim you were sitting in the same place even. What were you doing for that long, Hinata? Telling the Clan's secrets to him?"

Hinata started to protest, but Hiashi simply plowed onward, now standing next to her and leaning over her, his voice rasping in her ear.

"Then I have the Clan look all around town, and where did we locate you? In the one place a Hyuuga must never… EVER be. In the public hospital. Not on our private hospital, but in the public hospital, where other jealous clans may attempt to learn the secrets of the Byakugan. Something that must never happen." Hiashi's voice was horrible to Hinata's ears, a low voice meant only for her, which hinted at horrible things to come.

"The only reason that I'm even warning you is that you are my daughter. Had you not been that lucky, you would have been disowned in a heartbeat. Do you understand me, Hinata?" His breath merged with the air above her bed, causing her room to smell slightly of day-old sake. Tentatively, Hinata squeaked out an answer that might please him, and might not get Naruto-kun into trouble; which was, of course, more important.

"G-gomen Nasai, hon-honered Father. S-some girls in th-the class am-ambushed me, and I di-didn't want to kill them, but th-there were too many of them. T-they kn-knocked me out a-and brought m-me here. T-they didn't kn-know about our hospital."

Hiashi attempted to digest this bit of information before standing upright once more.

"How many did you recognize?"

"I-I didn't get a v-very good look."

His eyes narrowed at her, the Byakugan activated.

"You're lying, Hinata. Didn't we discuss what would happen if you lied to me ever again?"

**A street in Konohagakure**

'_Crap! I'm lost in my own village. It's bad enough I'm lost, but in my own village? That's something that Sasuke would do. Wait… I know this street, I'm not lost anymore! And I'm not too far from Sakura's place._'

Naruto strolled up the street and carefully checked each house number against the number he had written on a slip of paper. Several minutes later, he found the Haruno's house. Summoning courage, he jumped their gate and knocked on their door three times, and waited.

A curtain opened near the door and Sakura peeked out and lurched back in the house. She told her mother it was one of her friends and that they were going out for a short walk. She promised she wouldn't come late. Her mother out of the way, Sakura opened the door and shut it again before ushering Naruto out of her yard and down the street till they reached a small park. Once there, Sakura sat down on a bench, her arms folded.

"And what do YOU want, Naruto-dobe?" Naruto figured that she was pissed, but curious as to why he would randomly show up at her house.

"You left this." Naruto smoothly slid the kunai out of his pouch, took a long pink hair off of it, and handed it to her, handle first. "And I was a bit too pissed to ask a simple question last night. Why were you guys out there, and why was Hinata hurt?"

Shocked by getting her kunai back as well as the blunt question directed towards her, she stammered for a minute before saying, "Why should I tell you?"

"Because if you don't, then I turn you in to the Hokage for attacking and seriously injuring a fellow Shinobi. You would be summarily turned into a missing-nin and hunted down without remorse by the ANBU within a week. Since I don't want that do happen to anybody, especially anybody that I know, and that I used to like."

"Used to? Good, I didn't want to you to be chasing after me anyway. And again, why should I tell you…The Third wouldn't believe you anyway. He would believe me because I at least got good grades at the academy. You didn't get squat."

Naruto's face almost fell. She had a point; his grades were not that spectacular, and some people did put the person's personality on what their grades were, and not on what their actions were. Forcing a sly grin on his face along with enough confidence to match it, Naruto opened his mouth to say the best lie he had ever told.

"You're right…I didn't get good grades…but Hinata will back me up, and because she is the heir, her Clan will back HER up. How many weak links do you think were in that group you had trailing behind you? Some looked more frightened of you then they were sure of themselves and in what they were doing. I'm pretty sure I can find a few of them, and get them to speak against you. So how about you give me the answer I want?"

Sakura was shocked once again. She was cornered…if she told him what he wanted to know, she was going to be in some deep shit. But if she didn't, then she'd be even deeper in shit, simply because other people would know, instead of just Naruto. She hung her head and began her story.

"Damn you Naruto…" "I rounded up the girls in our class and…inspired them to help me go beat up Hinata simply because she was on your Team, with Sasuke-kun. It's a crappy reason but…it's the only one that I have." '_Well…the only one that you're going to get in any case._'

Naruto nodded, suspecting something of the case from Sakura's actions back at the academy, always hanging around Uchiha Sasuke. His eyes, however, saw Sakura's slightly shuddering body as she looked as the ground. Feeling kind of bad, he was tempted to reach out and comfort her…except that something didn't sound right. If it was jealously, then why didn't Sakura advance on Hinata alone? There was a hole so large that even he coulkd see it, so she was leaving something out.

"I don't believe that's everything Sakura-san." He emphasized '-san' when he said it, and got his reaction, a twitch from Sakura. "You're leaving something out…you said you were going to beat up Hianta, right? Well…beating someone up doesn't send someone to a hospital, ever. Finish telling me everything."

Kami he hated being this mean to anyone. It just wasn't in his nature, but he had to get the truth, and if this was the way to get it, then he'd…he'd have to make it up later.

Sakura blushed the color of her hair before muttering softly, so that Naruto had to lean in to hear her, "I guess I have to come clean now then, so that I can remain a genin…" Sakura paused for a breath before plowing on. "I snuck into Iruka-sensei's house late at night after he fell asleep. It was easy enough, especially since he taught us how to pick simple locks. I found his list on his table and I simply copied everything perfectly…except that I put myself on Team Seven with you and Sasuke-kun. To change the dossier, I had to move a girl off of your team and onto anothers…the girl who was supposed to be on your team was Yamanaka Ino."

Naruto interrupted Sakura while she took another shuddering breath. "Wait…didn't Ino help you when you…" He left the rest of the question unasked, but it wasn't necessary. It was obvious as to what the rest was.

"Yes, well, I didn't tell her about that. And I never plan to. Let me finish though, so I'm not holding anything back from you. My original Team was with Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji. What confused me was that when the Teams were called…my name wasn't with Team Seven. Hinata's was in my place. The only explanation for this was that Hinata herself copied me by sneaking in and changing the list herself. If it had been anyone else, then their name would be there, therefore it hod to have been Hinata. Hence how I got put in with Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino; her original Team. Both of us had cheated for our Teams…only she won. She got to be on the Team with Sasuke-kun." Sakura had tears brimming in her green eyes while she halted for a moment, out of breath. Then she plowed onwards.

"I was livid at losing my chance to prove that I was the best to Sasuke-kun and I felt like I needed some revenge. So I rounded up the other girls who had a crush on Sasuke-kun, and we went out looking for Hinata. I had them convinced that Hinata had cheated to be on Sasuke's Team, which was true, but I told them nothing of how I knew this. When we finally found her I…I went a little overboard. Once the feeling of revenge was gone…and my actions had already been taken, I thought about what I did…and my conscience started to eat at me on the inside. I felt guilty for what I had done. But telling you has…has lifted some of that."

Sakura looked up at Naruto, tears brimming in her eyes, wanting to know what Naruto would think about her now.

Naruto was, rather obviously, shocked at this news. Sakura had cheated by writing her name down for Team Seven, to be with Sasuke-bastard. But her change to the dossier hadn't made it to Team selection…Hinata's name had been called instead. Except Hinata wasn't supposed to be on Team Seven either; the only solution for this would be what Sakura had said; Hinata had cheated…only why did Hinata want to be on Team Seven?

'_Actually Naruto, it makes sense. You just don't see how it makes sense._'

'_Shut up, I'm thinking._'

'_You only assume you're thinking._' And then the voice fell silent.

'_Bastard… stop confusing me._'

Naruto glanced back at Sakura, having already understood and come to terms with her admitting cheating to try to get to on to Sasuke's team. What he saw was… strange to say the least though. Sakura's head was downcast, her pink hair was hanging limply over her face and there was a weak sobbing noise coming from her; tears were splashing to the ground.

"Sakura… why are you crying? I can see why you…well, no I can't, but I can kind of sympathize. But you are a nice person Sakura. We'll just say it was a misunderstanding of some kind. Somehow. Does that sound good?" Her head turned towards Naruto, granting him a view of her leaking eyes.

"Why are you being nice to me Naruto?" Her voice was pleading with him for an answer, "Your parents are dead, so there is no way they could have forced you to come talk to me. Why Naruto? Why do you need to talk with someone who injured one of your teammates. Why?" Her voice kept being interrupted by snivels before she collapsed onto Naruto, weeping inconsolably into his jacket, staining it an even darker blue in the twilight. She still muttered into his chest, "Why Naruto? Why…"

'_Well…this is new._' Naruto awkwardly put an arm around the kunoichi's shoulders in a vain attempt to calm her down. It might have even worked, had her sobs not increased in volume and intensity the second that she felt his comforting touch. Naruto tried to wriggle out of Sakura's grasp, but found that he couldn't. He was trapped in her arms, forced to wait until she calmed down enough on her own that he could move.

After about thirty minutes, Naruto's was starting to get tired. Not physically, but mentally. Being cried on and being asked, in between sobs, why he was doing something nice to such a horrible person was confused to him; Naruto figured that he would never try to figure out something a girl was doing for a few days, to avoid headaches.

"Sakura. While I am kinda touched that you…umm…still trust me enough to soak my jacket with your tears, I need to leave soon. It's getting dark and I promised Hinata-san that I'd go back to the Hospital to visit her today. I'll walk you home just in case, you know, you can't find it or something. Here, let me help you up." Naruto wrested out of her grasp and offered a hand to her.

Sakura wiped her eyes with her wrists before looking up at Naruto's face, her eyes red from her tears, and she took his offered hand and stood up before letting go of his hand quickly, as if he might decide to stab her hand with one of his kunai. Sakura walked somberly towards her house after that, with Naruto following a few feet behind her, with his hands in his pockets, his eyes and face in a mask of concentration. They walked like this, without talking, until they reached Sakura's house. She undid the latch, stepped inside her yard, and closed it again. She stopped for a moment, facing her door, and her voice drifted across the yard to Naruto.

"Naruto…please tell Hinata that I'm sorry. I…I…It was just a mistake."

"A mistake doesn't send anyone to the Hospital…remember our deal." Was Naruto's reply before he turned and walked towards the Hospital, hoping that visiting hours hadn't passed. He turned fast enough, that he didn't see Sakura falling to her knees in the grass and begin to weep once again.

**The Hospital, that evening**

Hinata was shaking for hours after her Father had left. She lied, and he had caught it. The only way that she managed not to be disowned was by her giving up the names of the two that she recognized. Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino. Hinata felt overwhelming guilt and pity for those two. Hiashi might do anything to them, from simply lecturing them, which was bad enough, to hospitalizing them himself. As it was, Hinata's punishment was bad enough: she was no longer the heir to the Hyuuga Clan, because, in his own words, a liar was not worthy of being the leader of the Hyuugas. And she was half a step away from switching Houses with Neji.

Switching Houses included as well switching the seal between the two. An involuntary shudder ran up Hinata's spine at that thought. She'd seen the seal activated before, and the resultant screams still rang in her mind. She was only 3 and had been sparring with her father with her uncle, Hizashi, and Neji sitting off to the side, watching. Hizashi became upset about something, but her father had taken it wrong, and had activated his brother's seal, almost killing him. She could see Hizashi's pained face as he rolled about on the floor in agony, his eyes tightly closed and his mouth wide open, emitting screams that were not human in their intensity.

Hinata shook her head. Now was not the time to think of what could have happened, but what is happening. Her Father was likely out hunting down the two girls and explaining to them, in as painful a manner as possible, that hurting his daughter was not allowed... except by him of course.

'_I have to get out of here before he comes back. Just in case he changes his mind about which House I should belong to._' Hinata looked about for a way out of the room, spying only the door as the exit. Other than the window of course, but that could not be opened enough to leave by, only enough to let some fresh air in the building. She sighed and lay back in her bed; the nurses said she could go tomorrow, so whatever sentence Hiashi had chosen for her would be carried out then. Not only that, but Naruto hadn't shown up like he promised he would.

'_Naruto-kun… are you all right?_'

**A Park in Konohagakure**

Naruto sat heavily on a bench, the fourth one so far. He had to keep moving around because people continually stared at him whenever he stayed in one area too long. Some of the people he recognized, like Sasuke-bastard, and a few Hyuuga's walked by, including the head of the Clan, Hyuuga Hiashi. Naruto wouldn't have recognized him except the fact that he shared the same hair color and facial shape that Hinata had. That and he had asked Naruto where "Haruno Sakura's house was. She is a friend of my daughter's." Naruto couldn't pass the question off as being just a random question, but he still answered truthfully. He may not have much respect for adults, but he was related to a Team mate, so he should at least be civil. Hiashi nodded at him after receiving that information and stalked off in that direction, allowing Naruto to dive back into his thoughts. Most were about Hinata, but some were about Sakura's confession.

'_Okay…so Hinata cheated to get herself on Team Seven, but why? She never seemed like the kind of girl that idolized Sasuke. She seemed kind of indifferent towards him in fact. Maybe she didn't like her original partners; Kiba and Shino. That would be the only reason I can think of…_'

'_Ohh…so close boy, so close._'

'_So she likes them… but didn't want to be on a Team with them?_' Naruto, having had a few conversations with himself, had learned that his other voice was usually correct about things.

His other voice seemed to sigh silently. '_Are you really that thick? Hinata isn't the type of person to dislike anybody that much. She would not have minded being with Kiba and Shino. But she's on your Team… and she doesn't appear to like Sasuke. What is the only option left?_'

'_Umm…_' Naruto tried to think hard about it for a moment before giving up. '_I have no idea… can I have a hint?_'

'_No_' The other voice, if Naruto had to put a face to it, would be smirking right about now.

'_Damn you… umm… let's see… we didn't know who the Jounin-sensei would be for any Teams beforehand, so that's out of the question. She doesn't like Sasuke like the rest of the girls… especially if that gang was any indication. The only person left is… me._'

'_That's right Naruto._' A hint of satisfaction graced the voice now.

'_So she just wanted to learn from a superior shinobi like myself! That's awesome!_'

'_Uh… sure. Let's go with that for now. It's still not correct, but I suppose it's as close as your infinitesimal mind will get you._'

Naruto stood up and brushed off his bum, the last bench having been mainly made out of dust. He stretched and began to walk off towards the Hospital, finally remembering the promise he had made to Hinata that morning. As Naruto reached the park's edge, he stopped and knelt. It was a small flower, delicate and of a light purple color, and after he had taken a sniff of it, decided that it also had a soft scent.

'_Hinata might like these…_' Naruto picked several dozens of the pale flowers and then stood to continue on his journey; until a firm hand landed on his shoulder, halting his movement.

"Uzumaki Naruto…we have something to discuss." Hiashi's voice was as strong as his grip on Naruto's shoulder.

"Like what Hiashi-sama?" Formalities must be observed sometimes, and because one of the deadliest shinobi in the entire village had his hand on Naruto's shoulder, this was one of those times. This was doubly true when you were scared out of your mind of the man, and felt like curling into a ball under his glare.

"Like my daughter." His voice was a growl as he picked Naruto off of the ground with both hands, turned him around, and dangled him in front of his face.

**The Hospital, 2 AM**

Hinata woke with a start at a slight thunk on her bedside table, having just gotten to sleep in the first place. She blearily looked over to see a nurse setting a bowl down, the lovely smell of flowers drifting over to her. The nurse glanced at Hinata and explained.

"A young man in orange came in a little while ago and tried to come up to see you. He had these flowers with him, and since we told him he couldn't come up here since visiting hours were over, he asked if we could deliver these flowers for him. So we nurses scrounged around for a bowl and filled it with water and brought them in for you. Looks like the flowers match your eyes, he did a nice job picking them…in any case I'll go tell him they you have them, go back to sleep now child."

"W-wait… tell him I said thank you, please."

"Certainly, now go back to sleep."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

There is another Chapter finished. I have no idea how long this fic is going to be eventually…but I would like to say something about the tardiness of this Chapter before I get to the reviews.

I had 9 Naruto DVD's come in the mail for me, so I had to watch all of them, so I left this Chapter half written and watched them all. Hinata is far more prominent in the anime by the by. In any case, I also have Finals coming up at school, which sucks, and also means I won't be writing as much, but the wait should be less than the one for this chapter. Sorry about the wait here and in advance for the next Chapter.

I also want to say that REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY and that a happy author writes with enthusiasm. ((Insert Gai rant)) Anyway…the more reviews I get, the faster I write, so keep 'em coming, eh? Even if you just glanced at this fic, review saying "Go you!" or "You suck!" or the ever popular "How dare you do that to ((insert character's name)) that was a mean and horrible thing to do! Otherwise a great fic." And yes, that was taken from the review board and paraphrased a bit. So…onto the reviews!

**Scorpio V1.2**: No problems, I understand, but I won't delete the review…I have too few of them…and even though you're one of my Betas, you still have to review.

**Dan Inverse**: There will be no pranks…period…everything that is done is done for a reason.

**Dragon Man 180**: Maybe…I don't know yet…this story is alive, and it writes itself…very little work is done by me.

**the DragonBard**: Go you! My first Flamer! And…umm…reread that part of the story…there is one sentence that explains all of that.

**Xoni Newcomer**: Thanks for agreeing to be one of my Betas…and this way you get to ask the questions before reviewing with them…although you should still review.

**nonengel**: Sorry about the wait…but I explain near the top in any case. Stupid school…

**EVERYONE ELSE**: Thanks for the reviews and I hope you keep posting the reviews…I love reviews, they make me want to write more…

That seems to be it for this go around, please read and review the next chapter, which will be up in…a week or so maybe? Possibly longer. Finals really blow.

'till next time.

Drahylin Estollcri


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